Facebook Comments Scraper

Facebook Comments Scraper

Facebook Comments Scraper is a fast, reliable Facebook comment extractor that collects top-level comments and nested replies from public Facebook posts and videos — complete with author names, timestamps, reactions, and IDs. It solves the pain of manually sifting through threads by letting you scrape Facebook post comments at scale and export them for analysis. Built for marketers, developers, data analysts, and researchers, this Facebook comments scraper tool enables social listening, moderation, and engagement tracking workflows end-to-end.

What data / output can you get?

Below are the real fields this Facebook comment extractor pushes to the dataset. You can download Facebook comments as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Output tab.

Data type	Description	Example value
url_key	Short identifier derived from the post URL path	"pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl"
full_url	Full Facebook post or video URL	"https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbK..."
text	Comment text content	"This story made my day. Thank you for sharing!"
profileName	Display name of the comment author	"Jane Doe"
profileId	Internal Facebook ID of the author	"100012345678901"
profileUrl	Public profile URL of the author (when provided by Facebook)	"https://www.facebook.com/jane.doe.123"
profilePicture	URL of the author’s profile picture (when present)	"https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/..."
date	ISO 8601 timestamp of the comment	"2026-03-28T14:22:10+00:00"
likesCount	Number of reactions on the comment (as string)	"12"
commentsCount	Number of replies under the comment	3
reply	Array of reply objects (same structure as top-level comments)	[ { "...": "..." } ]
id	Graph ID of the comment	"987654321098765"
feedbackId	Feedback (thread) ID used for GraphQL pagination	"ZmVlZGJhY2s6..."
facebookId	Legacy FBID of the comment (when present)	"1234567890123456"
threadingDepth	Depth of the comment in the thread	0
commentUrl	Direct URL to the comment (when available)	"https://www.facebook.com/.../comments/..."
facebookUrl	Source post URL (same as inputUrl)	"https://www.facebook.com/.../posts/..."
inputUrl	Original input URL for traceability	"https://www.facebook.com/.../posts/..."
expansionToken	Token used to fetch replies (when present)	"AQ5X...token..."
pageAdLibrary	Ad Library metadata for business pages (when present)	{"is_business_page_active": true, "id": "123456789"}
error	Error message when a post fails to process (error records only)	"Failed to extract doc_id or feedback_id"
comments	Empty array in error records to signal no data was saved	[]

Notes:

• Comment records contain rich metadata and may include optional fields such as profileUrl, profilePicture, expansionToken, and pageAdLibrary when available from Facebook.
• For failed posts, the actor writes a single error record with url_key, full_url, error, and comments: [].
• You can export Facebook comments to CSV, JSON, or Excel from the Apify dataset.

Key features

• ⚡ Always-on residential proxy Actor automatically uses Apify Residential proxy to avoid blocking on Facebook. The proxyConfiguration input is ignored by design. If your plan doesn’t include residential proxies, the run will stop with a clear log message.

• 🧵 Comments + nested replies Captures top-level comments and their reply threads. Replies are attached in the reply array using the same structured fields as parent comments.

• 🧮 Sorting controls Use commentsSortOrder to order results by most_relevant, newest, or keep the original order (all) before saving.

• 📦 Batch processing Paste multiple post/video URLs in startUrls to process them in a single run — ideal for tracking campaigns or series of posts.

• 🔎 Accurate metadata extraction Collects author display names, IDs, timestamps, reaction counts, and optional Ad Library page metadata when present.

• 🛠️ Developer-friendly (Python + API) Implemented in Python and deployable as an Apify actor. Connect results to pipelines via the Apify API or integrate with your own Facebook comments scraper Python workflow.

• 💾 Easy exports Download Facebook comments to CSV, JSON, or Excel directly from the Output tab for sentiment analysis, moderation queues, or BI dashboards.

• 🏗️ Production-ready reliability Includes robust request retries and cursor-based pagination for stable data collection at scale.

How to use Facebook Comments Scraper - step by step

1. Sign in to Apify Create or log in to your Apify account.

2. Open the actor Find and open “facebook-comments-scraper” in the Apify Console.

3. Add input URLs In startUrls, paste one or more public Facebook post/video URLs to scrape Facebook post comments.

4. Configure limits and order

   • maxComments: Maximum number of comments to fetch per post (default: 20 in the UI).
   • maxRepliesPerComment: Maximum replies to attach per comment (default: 2).
   • commentsSortOrder: Choose most_relevant, newest, or all.

5. About proxies The actor always uses Residential proxies automatically and ignores proxyConfiguration. Ensure your plan includes residential proxies; otherwise, the run will stop.

6. Start the run Click Start. The run will load each post, paginate comments, and, when present, fetch reply threads.

7. Monitor progress Watch logs for per-post status, counts, and saved items.

8. Download results Go to the Output tab to download Facebook comments to CSV, JSON, or Excel. You can also access data via the Apify API.

Pro Tip: Automate downstream workflows by pulling dataset items programmatically into your analytics stack or CRM. This is ideal when you collect Facebook comments for sentiment analysis or social listening.

Use cases

Use case name	Description
Social listening & sentiment analysis	Aggregate comments from public posts and analyze tone, topics, and reactions to inform marketing and community strategy.
Campaign performance tracking	Measure engagement and comment volume across multiple posts/videos for campaign retrospectives.
Community moderation workflows	Export Facebook comments to CSV or JSON to triage, prioritize, and respond using internal moderation tools.
Product feedback mining	Collect qualitative insights from comment threads to surface feature requests, bugs, and user sentiment.
Academic & media research	Assemble structured datasets of public discourse for studies and reporting; cite timestamps and author metadata.
Developer data pipelines (API)	Feed structured comment threads into data warehouses or NLP pipelines using the Apify API and Python SDK.

Why choose Facebook Comments Scraper?

Built for precision, automation, and reliability, this Facebook page comments scraper focuses on structured comment threads without complex setup.

• ✅ Accurate, structured output with timestamps, author names, reactions, and IDs.
• 🌍 Works on public posts and videos — no login required.
• 📈 Scales to multiple URLs per run with robust pagination and retries.
• 💻 Developer access via Apify API; integrate with Python-based data pipelines.
• 🛡️ Residential proxy by default for stable, block-resistant runs.
• 💰 Cost-effective automation compared to fragile browser extensions or manual copy-paste.
• 🔌 Integration-ready exports (CSV/JSON/Excel) for analytics, sentiment tools, and CRM pipelines.

In short: a best-in-class Facebook comments scraper tool vs. ad-hoc scripts or extensions — production-ready and built for scale.

Is it legal / ethical to use Facebook Comments Scraper?

Yes — when used responsibly. This actor scrapes publicly available comments from Facebook posts/videos provided in startUrls and does not access private or authenticated content.

Guidelines for responsible use:

• Only collect data from publicly visible posts.
• Comply with Facebook’s Terms of Service and applicable privacy laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
• Avoid scraping personal data beyond what is publicly displayed in comments.
• Validate your use case with your legal team for edge cases or regulated workflows.

Input parameters & output format

Example JSON input

{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl"
  ],
  "maxComments": 20,
  "maxRepliesPerComment": 2,
  "commentsSortOrder": "all",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}

Parameter reference:

• startUrls (array) — Paste one or more Facebook post/video URLs to scrape comments from. Default: none. Required: Yes.
• maxComments (integer) — Maximum comments to fetch per post. Default: 20. Required: No.
• maxRepliesPerComment (integer) — Max replies per comment (use a high number to fetch all). Default: 2. Required: No.
• commentsSortOrder (string enum) — How to order comments: most_relevant, newest, or original order (all). Default: "all". Required: No.
• proxyConfiguration (object) — Ignored. Actor always uses residential proxy automatically. Default: none. Required: No.

Example JSON output

Comment records:

{
  "facebookUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl",
  "commentUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/.../comments/987654321098765",
  "id": "987654321098765",
  "feedbackId": "ZmVlZGJhY2s6MTIzNDU2Nzg5MA==",
  "date": "2026-03-28T15:22:10+00:00",
  "text": "This story made my day. Thank you for sharing!",
  "profilePicture": "https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/...",
  "profileId": "100012345678901",
  "profileName": "Jane Doe",
  "likesCount": "12",
  "commentsCount": 2,
  "reply": [
    {
      "facebookUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl",
      "commentUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/.../comments/112233445566778",
      "id": "112233445566778",
      "feedbackId": "ZmVlZGJhY2s6MTIzNDU2Nzg5MA==",
      "date": "2026-03-28T15:30:12+00:00",
      "text": "Agree! So uplifting.",
      "profilePicture": null,
      "profileId": "100011112222333",
      "profileName": "John Smith",
      "likesCount": "3",
      "commentsCount": 0,
      "reply": [],
      "threadingDepth": 1,
      "facebookId": "223344556677889",
      "inputUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl",
      "profileUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/john.smith.222"
    }
  ],
  "threadingDepth": 0,
  "facebookId": "1234567890123456",
  "inputUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl",
  "expansionToken": "AQ5X...token...",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.facebook.com/jane.doe.123",
  "pageAdLibrary": {
    "is_business_page_active": true,
    "id": "1357913579"
  },
  "url_key": "pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl",
  "full_url": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbKbkisExKGSKuhee9a7i86RwRuMKFC8NSkKStB7CsM3uXJuAAfZLrkcJMXxhH4Yl"
}

Error records (per-post failures):

{
  "url_key": "pfbid0BbK...xhH4Yl",
  "full_url": "https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/posts/pfbid0BbK...",
  "error": "Failed to extract doc_id or feedback_id",
  "comments": []
}

Notes:

• likesCount is returned as a string; commentsCount is a number.
• Optional fields (profileUrl, profilePicture, expansionToken, pageAdLibrary, commentUrl, facebookId) may be absent if Facebook does not provide them.

FAQ

Is there a free tier or trial?

✅ You can run the actor on Apify with your account. The run requires residential proxies; ensure your Apify plan includes Residential proxy access, otherwise the run will stop during proxy setup.

Do I need to log in or provide cookies?

❌ No. The actor targets public Facebook posts/videos via startUrls and does not require login or cookies.

Can I export the results to CSV or JSON?

✅ Yes. After the run, open the Output tab to download Facebook comments to CSV, JSON, or Excel. You can also fetch data programmatically via the Apify API.

Does this scrape replies as well as comments?

✅ Yes. It fetches top-level comments and, when available, reply threads. Replies are attached in the reply array with the same structured fields.

Can I control the number of comments and replies?

✅ Yes. Use maxComments to limit the number of comments per post and maxRepliesPerComment to limit replies per comment.

Is sorting supported (e.g., most relevant vs. newest)?

✅ Yes. Set commentsSortOrder to most_relevant, newest, or all to control how comments are ordered before saving.

Does it work for Facebook ads or pages?

✅ It targets public post/video URLs. When Facebook provides Ad Library metadata for a page, it will appear in pageAdLibrary. Provide the direct post URL in startUrls to scrape Facebook post comments.

Is this a Chrome extension?

❌ No. It’s an Apify actor implemented in Python. You can trigger it in the Apify Console or via API and integrate it into your data pipelines.

Closing CTA / Final thoughts

Facebook Comments Scraper is built to reliably scrape Facebook post comments and replies from public posts and videos at scale. With structured outputs, sorting controls, reply threading, and residential-proxy reliability, it’s ideal for marketers, developers, data analysts, and researchers. Connect via the Apify API to automate pipelines in your Facebook comments scraper Python workflows, export Facebook comments to CSV/JSON/Excel, and power sentiment analysis or moderation queues. Start extracting smarter engagement insights from public Facebook conversations today.